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FRIDAY WITH FRIENDS #3

Thank you, Susan, for having me as your guest today.

In my opinion, we authors have the best job in the
world—although definitely not the most lucrative for most of us. We get to pour
out our hearts wearing sweats or jammies with no commute time. Who has a better
job?

Don’t misunderstand me, writing is hard. Bless those who
write while still working the dreaded day job. I did so early on but, thanks to
my supportive Hero, I was able to start writing full time. Even better, since
he took early retirement, Hero does the cooking, dishes, and his laundry so I
can concentrate on my stories. See why I call him Hero?

When I first began writing, I feared I would run out of
ideas. I used to keep a notebook of thumbnail plots to insure that wouldn’t
happen. What I didn’t know then was that writers never run out of ideas. The saying goes that writers are either
writing or thinking about writing. We’re not quite that bad, but close. ;-)

Granted keeping a fresh turn to the plot becomes more
difficult with each book and requires resourcefulness. I think of some twist
and then realize, no, I did that in another book. Still, I do have plenty of
ideas. Currently, I’ll have to keep writing until I’m at least two hundred to
use up all my plots and more crop up all the time. Please indulge me as I tell
you what my latest projects involve.

Two of my recent releases involved some
scrambling research. Several years ago I wrote a heavily researched book titled
THE TEXAN’S IRISH BRIDE, McClintock
book one (now FREE online here). My editor
at the time suggested that I write a book about the heroine’s older brother,
Finn O’Neill, and I kept that thought in the back of my mind. This year, I
pulled out the idea and came up with a plot.

Finn wants to go in as partner with his
brother-in-law, Dallas McClintock, raising fine horses. To do so, he needs
land. He strikes a deal to work undercover at the Farland Coal Mine in Lignite,
Texas in exchange for help financing the ranch that’s just come on the market
next to that of Dallas. There were a lot of coal mines in Texas, but mining has
changed quite a bit since 1886. I did my research and launched into the story
titled O’NEILL’S TEXAS BRIDE,
McClintock book two. This is a sweet romance simply because there is no chance
for it to be otherwise, and it involves a lot of detective work on Finn’s part.
You can find it here.

Finn’s heroine, Stella, had a sister, so
her story is told in the next book, McCLINTOCK’S
RELUCTANT BRIDE, McClintock book three. This is a sensual romance because
the couple are married and that involves the bedroom. The heroine, Nettie, is
the reluctant bride. Josh McClintock is a reluctant groom. They have a
difficult time learning to trust one another. All the while, a villain is
plotting to wreak revenge against the McClintock family rather than accept
responsibility for his own mistakes. This one is available here. In the future, there will be at least
two more McClintock books. For now, these three make what I hope is a varied
and interesting trilogy for readers.

Currently, I’m working on a new series titled the Bride
Brigade and the first book of that series is JOSEPHINE. Although she’s nothing like my grandmother, Josephine is
named after her. I love writing about strong women who fall in love with men
strong enough to deserve their love and respect.

On September 24th, four authors will each release
a book about brothers. The four brothers live in Angel Springs, Colorado and
the books are called the Surprise Brides. My book is about the eldest, JAMIE, who is a widower with two unruly
children. Callie Hutton’s is about the second brother, CALEB. Cynthia Woolf’s book is about GIDEON. Sylvia McDaniel wrote about the youngest, ETHAN. Posing as each of her sons, Mama
Fraser writes away for mail order brides. The girls arrive just as a major
snowstorm hits the area and they are snowed in. Fortunately, Gideon is a
minister and can marry all four couples. At least, they hope him performing his
own wedding is legal. These are fun, romantic books.